Most people use ChatGPT to write emails, brainstorm ideas, analyze data, or code. Generative AI nowadays is so powerful that it can even build a website just with some prompts, and it probably does it faster than most people. As I was knitting the other day, I randomly started thinking about the potential jobs Generative AI is going to take over in the future. From engineers to lawyers, it really seems like there’s no “safe” jobs out there. I looked at the knitting pattern I was using and wondered if AI could actually make patterns or it’s just going to give me some made-up stitches and numbers.
I tested some prompts in ChatGPT for both crochet and knitting projects. At first glance, the written patterns actually look legit. But what’s funny is that even with ChatGPT’s ability to generate images now, the charts were just complete non-sense. For example, this is what it generated for both crochet and knitting, and as a reference you can search online for what charts are supposed to look like (spoiler alert: they look nothing alike).
Moreover, by asking ChatGPT for even more patterns for different creations, I noticed that some errors kept showing up, including abbreviations that are invented or mashed together, stitch counts that don’t add up, or rows that repeat inconsistently. Since I didn’t have time to actually conduct the experiment and try out the patterns, I went down the rabbit hole on YouTube and TikTok to see what people made. It was super entertaining as you might see a pattern saying it’s an elephant but turns out looking more like a mouse. Based on my research, the short answer to “Can ChatGPT Crochet or Knit?” is definitely no. I believe that at least as of today, the pattern makers are not going to be replaced by GenAI. There might be a lot of reasons behind this but the main one in my opinion is that creating a pattern is not just a linear process. The designers actually have to test out the pattern over and over again and look for testers before releasing it. In order to create a successful pattern that not only looks good but also easy to understand is not easy and takes years of experience. I’ve been crocheting and knitting for fun for over five years now, and I still cannot create one.
For now, AI created patterns are more comedy than craft, but what if it gets better? I’m excited to see if the future Generative AI can actually generate good patterns. At the same time, I can’t help but think it is quite intimidating if it can potentially take over a creative skill like this.
